Anecdote: What losing a smartphone in the Himalayas taught Hari

While all our posts use narrative in third person (they) or in first person collective (we), this is a story written from Hari’s point of view, since he went through the following experience. Ocassionally, we also share posts that have Priya speak or at least write an intro in first person.

25 days into India 360, I lost my smartphone. I carelessly left it behind on a bus and realised the folly only an hour later in the hotel room. During our trip, the smartphone was a phone, Internet connection, reference book, compass, etc. 65 days still remained until we could return to Mumbai, where we could get a duplicate SIM card. SIM cards are only replaced in a phone number’s home zone. I could have got a new smartphone and used it without the SIM, for other purposes like camera. But it didn’t make monetary sense to buy a smartphone from a showroom in Uttarakhand, when an online purchase can be much cheaper. So I decided not to buy a new phone until we reached Mumbai for our first break after the northern Himalayan leg. In this post, I will narrate my experience of life of travel without a smartphone for a little more than 2 months. Continue reading